Personally, I think that the Length of the train should be somewhere near half the average length of all the passing spurs. Hope it helps!
My last layout was 14 x 24’ and it had minimum passing length of 18’ feet long trains designed in. That included a hidden 10 track staging yard with storage capacity between 18-24’, one siding of 18’ and a yard with 18-20’ passing capacity. There wasn’t a lot of open single track line but one stretch between the yard and the siding, and a small stretch after. Not necessarly a lot of room to stretch legs but certainly capacity to run stage and run 8 to 10 long trains.
No one has to be ashamed of a short train. Whatever you like to run, and if you enjoy it, great!
Right, but even on something pushing 40’, there’s only a few seconds between stations. Unless you’re running a Shay, in which case the Dispatcher will hate you when you hit single track… Not that I’ve been there…
I;ve posted this before, but I actually prefer the 12" view 
of the layout versus the 12’ foot. 
Yes, that train is in three towns on the layout. Do you see them in the first picture? The second? Granted, it’s on the club layout (45’x60’) and not the common size home layout, but the princupal is the same. I see 
not the above, and it’s acieveable on any layout of any size. Maybe not 16 on a 4x8, but a 10 is comperable. For long trains, the tail only needs to drop out of sight before the engine re-appears. Headlight glow can be cropped out of video, or ignored. I’ve even put my chin on the layout just to watch a train go by. Not on someone else’s mind you, but the
[quote user=“shayfan84325”]
Wouldn’t it be most logical to establish train length like the 1:1 railroads do? In Cache Valley, Utah there is a UP branch that serves about 20 (estimated) industrial facilities. The daily local freight is usually about 5 cars pulled by a small (8 wheel) diesel. The train is made up of the right number of cars to satisfy the orders for that day; they don’t add extra cars just to make it look better
On my layout the railroad has 5 customers; to me it makes sense to assemble a train that has a few empty cars of the types that each customer requires, and a few that are loaded with materials that those plants have ordered, then venture around the layout spotting cars and picking up the loaded ones. At the end of the run, the entire train is different from the one that departed, and it is probably slightly longer or shorter.
I also run a few log-laden cars - those are more like unit trains; they run from the logging camp to the sawmill, carrying nothing but logs. The length of these is determined by the amount of weight that a small shay can pull up a grade. My passenger trains are determined by ticket sales (when
As a sidenote, my Santa Fe is three decks in a room 29ft by 33ft. A major part of the line is a branch that was called the Enid dist. between Enid OK and Guthrie. This line was originally a short line that Santa Fe bought. I model the area with a date of 1989. Enid also is/was a major grain terminal port so many unit grain trains go in and out. The distance of the Enid district then was 45 miles between Guthrie and Enid and had 4 four towns with passing tracks.
However, the passing tracks were too short for unit grain trains, so trains moving from Guthrie to Enid were held while the trains from Enid to Guthrie ran, then the Guthrie trains were let go to run to Enid. I built my passing tracks at my models of the towns too short also. Makes an interesting twist in operating sessions. The sidings are used then to store grain cars waiting to be used at various places. Sadly after the BN fiasco, the Enid district was abandoned for the BN line to Tulsa which crosses the old Santa Fe at Perry.
It does make op sessions more interesting.
Bob
This is probably most often true, but rules it seems are made to be broken. This is my personal favorite exception to the rule about train length:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/look4trains/3429592333/
Jim
The question is do you want to model the exception or the rule. I think most of us want to model what is common and what we typically see. The picture featured is probably at power set either making up a train or a movement between yards or something, perhaps a “long distance local”.
I think we all do like to model interesting scenarios based on prototype. For example, I enjoy late era private passenger trains in the mid-late 1960’s and there was often a good deal of varation from the cookie cutter standard consists. Pool power or power sharing lets you mix in “foreign” road power in trains. But I digress.
On my current home layout I have 1000’ of mainline.
Now I suppose I should be running 100 car trains from my understanding of the previous posts here only because the more mainline the longer the trains should be! 
I run 12 car locals !
It layout is prototypically based on the CR Lowgrade line and it had a lot of towns and curves.
The main industry in the area was coal so the real trains were in the 100 car range.
Unfortunately running trains that long just just looks stupid as the train would be in 3 or 4 towns at once.
I don’t have the luxury of stretching out the distance between towns like I would like BUT
There have been Posts on here about layout owners having aircraft hangers they were going to build a layout in and run prototypical distances between town and the responders began to CRY it would be boring!
Yet this thread gives me the impression that everyone wants LONG trains
Having some 300 feet between towns - would give the Dispatcher time to actually get his orders out before the engineer he was talking to reached the next town!
Now as for switching with a long train - one of my regular operators tries this all of the time - running 3 MP15s and trying to switch the local industries - he keeps derailing the 3 unit engine set and is fustrated that it keeps doing this - YET
He keeps trying each OPs session! - YOU would think he would learn - NOPE !
Or if he is on the mainline with a local - it is a 3 unit set again derailing when backing through complicated turnout arrangements - YET he continues in frustration rerailing the engines - and I come through with a single engine local - switch the industries and am on my way while he is still rerailing his power!
Now if I were modeling a 4 track MAINLINE running instead of a backwoods bridge route and only running from staging to staging then 3 or 4 engines would be no problems as you would never be backing through a bunch of turnouts!
S
Throw mid train helper in there too. Keeps the kids busy trying to figure what is pushing, pulling, front and back of train
Works for me!
BOB H - Clarion, PA
For my N scale layout, I keep adding cars until I think the train is long enough. I really don’t know how many cars that is however. It may be six or seven feet long. Six feet will have more 40 foot box cars in it than cylindrical hoppers. I’ve never given it much thought to tell you the truth. I try to limit the number of locos to two or three. The only time I run four is an ABBA lash up of F units. Passenger train length is a different issue where I think seven or eight coaches is long enough.
-Paul